A natural disaster and the Open Street Map humanitarian community gets into action. Since April 16 and the earthquake that shook Ecuador, HOT (Humanitarian Open Street Map Team) assures it carried out more than 1.5 million modifications on the open source collaborative map “Mapping Ecuador” thanks to the intervention of some 1,700 voluntary contributors. An exceptional rallying like in April 2015 following the earthquake that shook Nepal or in 2014 during the propagation of the Ebola virus in West Africa.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake according to provisional estimates caused 655 deaths and 29,067 homeless along the country’s coastline, in an area of fishing villages and touristic beaches. Faced with the urgency of the situation, the HOT teams are coordinating their energies to update the maps from the satellite pictures and give the rescue teams and humanitarian organizations the most precise information on the most affected areas and the people who need the most assistance.
At the initiative of the operation “Mapping Ecuador”, according to the Ecuadorean newspaper El Tiempo, the Llactalab of the University of Cienca in the center of Ecuador had some 15 volunteers working 18 hours per day updating the map. The researcher Daniel Orellana from Llactalab also organized a Hangout to get acquainted with “Mapping Ecuador”. Under the coordination of the Columbian Humberto Yances Mapatón (mapathons) were also set up—around fifteen to this day, from Nepal to the United-States.
In the tradition of Open Street Maps, “Mapping Ecuador” has its own wiki page where you find all the information on the project and how to contribute. The project also has its Twitter account.
Take part in “Mapping Ecuador”
More information on the wiki Open Street Map Ecuador